Bent
by bluexfrost
Summary: A strange, quirky romance. Nothing is ever straightforward. Friendship vs. lesbianism, sisters vs. lovers. R&R please, if not i shall feel demoralised. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1 Best Friends

Three best friends, gazing at the jet black empty sky, without a care in the world. The night was serene, so peaceful. Although there aren't any stars, the moon seemed to be brighter, it seemed to be sweeter than on any other night. This was the life...

Alexis stroked her loyal falcon as she lay on the evergreen grass of Payon. She was a young hunter, a petite frame completed with short dark brown hair. She always kept half her hair tied up in a tight ponytail with a bright red ribbon. If it weren't for her bow and arrows, she would had looked completely innocent. Beside her was Saura. Unlike Alexis, she had a strong build with short, funky blue, boyish hair that matches so well with her blacksmith outfit. People often had mistaken her for a guy, a really handsome guy. Well, who could blame them, she _does _both look and behave like a guy. And then there was the ever so whacky alchemist. Her deep blue, short hair emphasized her lively and cheerful look. Cady was always the one cracking jokes in the group, sometimes at the wrong time. She rested her feet on top of her cart as she lay down beside Alexis and Saura. She did not care if there was some peeping tom trying to look under her short skirt.

"So sad there isn't any stars..." Playing with Alexis skirt, just figiting with it, Cady sighed. "Hey, if the sky was full of stars. There wouldn't be such a beautiful moon." Alexis smacked Cady's itchy fingers, giving her that ' what do you think you are doing?' stare. It was late into the night already, yet they didn't even bother to think what would happen if they slept there on the field. And sleep there they did...

---

" Alex... stop licking my feet..." Saura mummbled in her half-asleep state.

"Wha???? Who? I ain't licking anyone's feet... Especially yours, they are nasty..."

In confussion, Saura and Alexis raised their heads to see which sicko dared to lick Saura's icky feet. It was a pink, blobbery, squishy, bouncy, poke-able, erm thing... The two girls immediately jumped up on their feet, followed by a small scream from Alexis and a long 'Awwww'.

"How cute! A poring ! I want to poke it!" As Alexis poked the poring, Saura had a mischievious look on her face. " What are you thinking? I don't like that look!" Saura grapped the sweet, innocent creature and placed it on the sleeping Cady. Even with the poring bouncing on her face, Cady managed to still snore away. Alexis and Saura could not contain their amusement, they ended up rolling on the floor, drowned with their laughter.

Alexis picked up leaves and sticks and dumped it on Cady's upper body for sheer entertainment. They started piling up whatever they could find on Cady. Soon, buried under the junk they found, Cady had totally disapeared! Well the poring was smart enough to jump off and bounce away. Suddenly in the midst of their laughter, a faint scream was heard from under the mountain. Sleeping Beauty had awoken! And very angry she was. Removing the twigs and leaves out of her hair, she picked up a branch and chased the two around Payon.

"Argh!!!! How could you do that to me!?!?" The morning peace was broken. The unlucky villagers who was nearby stared as Cady threw pebbles at her friends.


	2. Chapter 2 Battle Partners

Rosette swinged her katar profusely without having much control over its power. The sandy monster attacked furiously back at the bubbly white-haired assassin. Well, at this point she wasn't much of a danger to anyone, nor was she any good at being an assassin. She had just finished the tedious assassin guild test and was just too excited to try out her new job.

The sand man melted into just a regular pile of sand. "Whooo!!! That was so cool! What did ya think?" The hyper little girl jumped jubilantly as a young, blonde priest around her age stared at her. "Rosette, look at all your wounds... sigh, you have got to be more careful!" The priest showed much concern over the assassin, although the cuts did not bother the girl at all. He walked over to her, sighing as he healed her bleeding wounds. The warm, glowing light of Tony's healing powers tickled Rosette. "Tony, i'm fine! Let's go fight some more sand man! Come on!" The priest had to wrestle Rosette down to the ground in order to finish healing her before the overjoyed assassin took on another sand man.

Releasing Rosette, she dashed like an uncontrolled bull, attacking monsters around the guild. Poor Tony, he had to follow her wherever she went to heal her wounds. Well, its not that she forced him, he just wanted to. He could be training at Glast Heim or learning new skills, but instead he chosed to follow this hyper-active young lady. Not that he had an 'alternate motive', he was not that sort of guy who would take advantage of young girls. He was far from that state. He respected women in very way and see them as an equal like every gentlemen should. Besides, he had known Rosette since like forever! No way he would do anything nasty to her.

" Rosette! Behind you! Look out!" Tony yelled as a sand man sneaked up from behind to attack Rosette while she was swinging her katar at another. He rushed to her aid, but the two sand men worked together and managed to knock Rosette out. Tony arrived just in time to catch her collapsed body. In a desparate state if panic, Tony flinged the fainted assassin over his left shoulder and ran as fast as his heels could carry him in the direction of Morroc. He soon realised that it was rather useless as the more he moved around the more sand creatures attacked. So he figured he should have used a wing of butterfly.

Just as a sand man was about to hit him, he had teleported back to the safety of Morroc in the nick of time.

Looking at her fainted body, he knelt down and rested her in his arms." Oh no, I'm so sorry Rosette..." Tony casted a resurrection upon her, " Please don't die... I'm just so useless! This is all my fault! If I weren't so careless and casted more spells on you, this would not have happened! Come on Rosette, please..." On the verge of tears, despite many on-lookers surrounding the two, Tony hugged Rosette tight, in hope that she would come back. He could not control himself anymore. As the tears seeped slowly and painfully out of his beautiful earthly eyes, a hand touched his soft, gentle face.

" Hey, i told you i'm fine..." A soft, weak voice ensured Tony that she was fine. Rosette wiped away his tears as she smiled at the silly priest. " I won't die that easily."

"Rosette! Tony! What happened!?!?!?" A hunteress came running towards them. Behind her followed two other girls.

"Alexis? Cady? Saura? What are you doing here?" Rosette was rather surprised to see Alexis and her friends.

" I called them." Tony answered her questions, " Your sister was very worried when I told her you passed out."

" Oh my gosh, you silly girl! You should have taken on something easier! How many times have I told you? Don't always jump straight to things without even thinking! I have told you a thousand times! But you just won't listen to me! You won't listen to anyone! Why -"

" Ok Alex, I think she gets it..." Saura stared at the two comical sisters. The older one was always scolding the other out of sheer concern and being overprotective. While the younger one would always pretend to listen and then commit the same act again. Then the whole process will repeat all over again.

Trying to cool down, Alexis sat beside her sister, rolling her eyes. The girls all turned to look at Tony, he was still holding Rosette in his arms. " What? Why you all staring at me like that?"

"Ahem..." Acknowledging the priest, Rosette tugged the edge of Tony's overcoat.

" Oh , so sorry..." Tony realised Rosette, he was embarrassed, blushing as the girls giggled at him.

"Well, you two make a _cute couple_. Haha." Cady joked. Tony blushed even more at Cady's remark.

"Hey! We ain't a couple!!! Especially not a cute couple!" Rosette snapped back. Only this time, still blushing, Tony felt... a little hurt...

As the girls jested and poke fun at Rosette and Tony. Rosette seemed to take it all like the joke it was. But Tony, on the other hand, felt misearable, he felt ashamed and hurt. Like there was no hope...


	3. Chapter 3 Sisters

Chapter 3- Sisters

She took a few steps ahead of the group, breathing in the air around her. She was adventurous, too much for her own good. The air smelled foul. It smelled like rotting corspes, she winced the moment the polluted air entered her lungs. As much as she wanted to get out, at the same time she wanted to venture further into the pyramid of Sphinx.

Although that place had been there for millions of years, the group never thought about going any further than the main enterance. Its not that they were afraid to see what was beyond the main doors, they just never really gave it much though. They have heard many stories told by the residents of Morroc. Some where true, some were exaggerated, while others were just folktales told to little children to scare them from wandering into the dangers of the pyramids.

Having their guard up, ready for any attacks, very alert to their surroundings, they moved together like a pack of wolves, working together. She turned to see if they are alright before taking the lead again. Just as she peeped over a wall, something charged forward, attacking her.

"Alex!" Rosette cried, she lurged forward trying the best she can to help. Alexis fired double arrows from her Kakkung, with a high dexterity, she never missed a shot. Tony was a support, healing her every wound, he did not need to do much as they all knew that Alexis was a very skilled huntress who could very well take on ten monsters without getting hurt.

Shrill cries filled the air as the shadow brute fell to the ground in defeat. She was contented, she made her victory seem like it did not matter at all. She remained calm as ever, looking over the dead Matyr, she just smiled. While on the other hand, Rosette as usual was overjoyed and hyper-active. She was bouncing up and down, her blue eyes projected her obvious emotion, elation.

Out of the blue, Cady whipped around only to see another creature. She swinged her battle axe with all her might at the bat. Soon, like the Matyr, the Drainliar was defeated. "Pif, this place is soooo easy!" She exclaimed arrogantly.

"Fine fine... Then let's move deeper into the pyramid." Suggested Saura. Taking lead of the group, everyone was now more relaxed, knowing that the monsters in the area are pretty much no match for them.

At the corner of her eye, Rosette saw something shinny. Wandering away from the group, away from her protection, she briskly walked towards the item on the dusty floor. She bent over to pick it up. "What's this? Shackles? Cool..." She said to herself as she placed them in her pocket, planning to sell it to some merchant in town. As she turned around, Alexis and the others were no where in sight! Haven't they noticed she was missing? She would have ran in the direction she left their safety, but there was more than one pathway. "Oh no... This is bad, this is really bad..." She was frightened. As she took a few steps, trying to figure out which way to go, she shouted, " Alex! Cady! Saura! Tony!?!?"

To her misfortune, her desparate cries only had attracted a beast, it had attracted another Matyr. Her eyes widen at the sight of the dog. Taking fearful steps back, she drew out her katar in hope that the brute would be frightened away. Breaking into a cold sweat, the Matyr charged forward, bitting her leg. Rosette swinged her katar at the beast for defence in vain. The dog did not back off, it just sank its razor sharp teeth deeper into her flesh. Blood gushed out, causing Rosette to let out a long and high pitched cry. The pain rushed up her spine, her leg went numb. She thrusted the mighty katar into the beast. It let go of her swollen, bleeding leg, yelping. Rosette collasped. She knew she was going to die. She was not as tough like her sister. She prayed a miracle would happen, like the ceiling would suddenly fall onto the Matyr or something like that. The beast charged forward again, Rosette using her katar to defend herself by swinging them recklessly. She closed her eyes tight. Just then, her prayers was answered. There was a bright flash of light, sounds arrows digging in deep into the flesh of the brute and the edges of powerful wings, cutting through the air, talons slicing the beast. Then there were cries of a dying Matyr .

Opening her eyes, she saw the dog lying on the ground, dead. There were arrows and blood all over it. It was such a gory sight, but it saved her life. Looking up to see her saviour, there she stood, with a bow in her hands and that familiar concern, angry look on her face, it was surely her sister, Alexis. Her falcon hovered above her. Trailed behind was the rest of the group.

" Why!?!? Why did you wander off like that?!? Don't you even bother to think how worried I was when I found that you were missing!?!? Are you _trying _to give me a heart attack?!?!?" There was the usual nagging. Looking at the wound on Rosette's leg, they gasped in horror. Tony rushed to heal her as Alexis carried on with her naggy routine, Cady and Saura just stood at a corner.

"But but but..."

"But what? You should not have ran off like that!"

"Thanks..." Rosette lowered her head and murmured under her breath.

"Wha- For what?" Alexis was shocked.

"For everything... For caring so much about me... For always being there when I need you... Thanks..."

"Oh silly girl, I'm your sister, it's my job to take care of you. No matter how ungrateful, unappreciative and disobedient you may be, or how annoying it is for me to scold you and you go ahead and do the same thing again the next minute. But my point is, even if you don't cut any slack for me, I'm always there for you, whether if you need me or not." Bending down to hug her sister, her heart felt a whole lot better, like she was finally being apprieciated. But she knows that this would not last long, Rosette would still go back to her old ways. She thought to herself that she did not want Rosette to change at all, she loved her the way she was.


	4. Chapter 4 Confessions

Sunset. So radiant, so peaceful. It always made me smile, to know that I have survived another day and going on to the next. I sat on the sandy beaches of Comodo, the city of romance. The smell of the majestic sea and the warmth of the setting sun would always calm my nerves after a bad day. But there is nothing so special about the sunset. It is just one of nature's cycles. No matter how beautiful a sunset may be, there will always be another just like it the next day.

I sat there, alone, watching the setting sun disappear into the darkness, giving out a magnificent spectrum of warm colours. It was so surreal. I zoned out, cleared my mind of any bad thought. This would be my therapy after a hard day. The sun had vanished completely from the boundless sky. The waves were calm, the sound they made when they hit the shores were so soothing. I let out a small sigh as I stared at the abyss of darkness, the phenomenon was over.

There were some faint laughter in the distant. The Comodo casino would be teaming with people from all over Midgard around this time. It was a rather popular hangout place among the youngsters and the obsessed gamblers. "Cady? What are you doing out here all alone?" I quickly turned around. It was only Saura. She had noticed that i was missing from all the action back in the casino. I looked around to see if the others were with her. Apparently, they were still enjoying themselves, gambling. Saura sat down beside me, giving me that ' So, I'm here now, what are you planning to do?' look.

" You missed it... You missed the sunset..." I stared back at her.

"Dear, I'm sorry. I was having a winning streak back there." Pointing back in the direction of the casino, she explained herself, " I promise tomorrow I will watch the sunset with you, ok?"

Forgiving her, I took her hand and held it tight. I rested my head on her shoulders as we both stared blankly into the nightsky. We weren't the _normal_ type. We had kept our relationship in the dark for a long time. I mean, we can't let anyone know, they will treat us differently if they knew. Not even our best friend knows, we were afriad she might think of us as freaks, or might envy how close we are, thinking we are leaving her out of things. Well, we have heard many people thinking of lesbians as a freak of nature, disrespecting our kind and dissing us, unknowingly hurting us. Therefore, the world must not know of our little secret...

" Cady, don't you think by doing this is a little too obvious?" Noticing her point, me and Saura moved ourselves to a more remote place. Below the wooden planks of a nearby port, there was sufficent space for the both of us to fit in. There i continued to rest my head on her shoulder, holding hands, and listening to the waves. We both wished that we did not need to leave this place, that we could stay like this forever.

The atmosphere was so relaxing, my mind slowly drifted and I found myself closing my eyes, still awake, the only sound in my head was the sounds of crashing waves. Saura must have thought I had fallen asleep as she placed my head on her lap for better comfort. Pretending to sleep, I smiled to myself. Saura stroked my hair, although my eyes are shut tight, I could sense her smiling at me.

Saura bent over me a little. I had no idea what she was planning to do, so i carried on with my act. I could feel her arm wrapping around my waist. She was moving closer. I was anxious of what she wanted to do with me. The more I ignored her actions the more I wanted to open me eyes. But I managed to resist the temptation. She suddenly stopped playing with my hair, instead her hand was placed lightly above my head. As my face was facing up on her lap, I could feel her breathing on me. I could sense it, her face was just hovering above mine. Slowly, she pressed her lips against mine. I was shocked, unable to think of how to react to that, so I continued to pretend to sleep. As much as I was shy to react, I enjoyed it too much. It felt like everything in the world was right. She gentally pulled back, I could not help but smile. She, smiling in amusement at my act, just stared at me, she knew i was pretending all along. Just when everything was so right, my world came crashing down again.

"Cady! Saura! What the-?!?!?"

_Oh no, please let this be a dream... _I thought to myself, _please don't let that be Alexis..._

I opened my eyes, hoping it was not true. The first thing I saw was the frighten expression on Saura's face. My heart stopped, I got up, my nightmare had came. Alexis was standing there, in utter shock and anger. I wanted to get up and explain to her, but I just could not bring myself to it. I sat there, frozen in fear. This could not be happening... How did she find us? This was all just a bad dream... As much as I wished it was, it wasn't.

Saura got up, giving me back the capability of standing, I followed behind her as she rushed towards Alexis. "Could someone please explain what is going on?" Obviously Alexis was trying her best to keep calm. Before I could speak, Saura answered for me, " It's not what you think!"

" Then what is it?"

" Ok it is what you think..." Saura took a deep breathe and looked at me for support. I continued for her," Me and Saura are lesbians..." I just let it out, I closed my eyes waiting for an explosion. But the explosion I expected never came. Instead, Alexis just said, " Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were best friends? I thought we weren't suppose to hide anything from each other?" Her tone changed, she was hurt.

" I'm sorry, we just thought you might think that we are disgusting, freaks..." Unable to look Alexis in the eye, I was staring at the ground instead.

"Damn it, you think I will treat you any different? You are wrong. That's what friends are for, we except each other, and not hide things behind their back!"

"We're ...we're sorry..." I apologized on Saura's behalf, " Just forgive us and we promise that we will never do this again. Don't hate us. Please."

Alexis just stood there, staring at the both of us. She did not even say a word. We begged her for forgiveness but she just froze there. " Well," we were nervous to hear what she had to say, " I will keep your secret if you keep mine... I'm not straight either."

"Bent?"

" Yup, just like you two, not full les. Bisexual to be exact..."

" What? So we all had secrets."

" Still friends?"

"No"

Just one word, no. How could one word have so much impact on us...

" We ain't just friend, we are best friends." There, two words, best friends, just these two words made all of us feel so much better, lifted a huge weight off our hearts, it made us smile. _Best friends..._


	5. Chapter 5 Knight in shinning armour

Chivalrous. This was the name of their guild. Meaning to have courage, courtesy and loyalty. Gracious and honorable towards an enemy, a defeated one, and the weak or poor. All it's members had to live up to its name. They had a caring and motherly leader, Ariana, a high priestess. She was known as one of the most skillful high prietess in the whole of Midgard, but yet she was never once arrogant about her position. She was a role model to her fellow guild members.

Making the final decision, Ariana took her guild to the bustling city of Prontera. She had figured that since that place was the capital of Midgard, merchants from all over would gather there and vend their items. This would be a shopaholic's paradise. She taken them there as she felt that they needed new armour and weapons of better quility. "Rosette!" Alexis yelled at her in a distant, they were about to check into a local inn and Rosette was still fooling around. She had taken much amusement with playing with the inn's main door, she was opening and closing it just to hear it creek. After closing it for the last time, Rosette followed the rest to their assigned rooms. And of course, she was rooming with the usual people, only each room could fit four people, so Tony had to move to the room next door with other guild members. Climbing the noisy stairs, the found thenselves in a long corridor which had rooms on both sides. " Room 21... 22... 23... 24...Ah hah! Room number 25! This is our room!" Saura counted as they walked by the rooms. She inserted the key in the keyhole, turning it once, the door swinged open with a light push. " See ya Tony!" Rosette waved at him as he and his roomates pushed open their door. Tony smiled and waved sweetly back at Rosette without saying anything. He looked down at the floor as he entered the room, he was blushing...

There were two double-deckers, one on each side, separated by a small desk with a lamp on it. " I call dibs on the upper deck near the window!" Rosette dashed towards her desired bed. They all stared at her. "...If she can call dibs... then I call dibs on the one below her!" Following Rosette, Cady dumped her belongings on her bed. Alexis and Saura just walked slowly to their bed, Alexis on the upper while Saura on the lower. _Maybe whatever Rosette has that makes her so hyper is contagious... _Alexis thought to herself as she observed her sister and Cady bouncing on their beds like some psychopath.

1am in the morning. Alexis stared blankly at the ceiling, she could not sleep. She had rolled, tossed and turned in bed all night long but she just could not sleep through the night. She woke after every five minutes. Soon she got fed up and decided to talk a long walk around Prontera. Ya, maybe that could make her sleepy. Slipping on her shoes, she tip-toed out of the room, trying not to wake anyone especially Rosette. It took her hours to finally get that girl to sleep, waking her up would be a disaster. Once she was out of the inn, she inhailed a deep breath of the misty morning air. It was so refreshing. She started her walk towards the fountain in the middle of the city. The place seemed so different then in the day. It was so quite now compared to the afternoon, there would be children playing loudly, merchants trying to advertise their stalls, people socializing, and many other things that contributed to the noise. Now the only sound was the splashing water of the fountain. Alexis sat at the edge, looking into the water, her mind went into a daydream.

Footsteps. Alexis was jolted out of her reverie at the presence of a new company. She looked up to find a young Knight staring at her. His black hair looked so soft and smoothe, he had the most beautiful dark brown eyes she had ever seen, his dreamy look was completed with strong and muscular yet slim and sexy built. The sight of him left Alexis' mouth slightly ajar. " What is a young maiden like yourself doing out here at this time?" His voice was like and angel. Trying to play it smoothe and cool, "..er...erm...I... I...was...was...was..." _That was so not smoothe_, _you nitwit. Now you look so dumb... _Alexis tried to find words to say. She took a deep breathe, " I could not sleep so I came out here. What about you?" There, she said it all in one breahte. "Same I guess, what's your name may I ask?" Alexis sweared she almost fainted when Mr. Cutie sat beside her at the edge of the fountain. "Al...Alexis" She pronounced her name with great difficulty. "Alden." He replied so calmly, unlike Alexis. There was an awkward silence, Alexis was just gazing into his gorgeous eyes. "...Erm, I suppose you aren't from around here?" Alden was trying to start a conversation and to break the silence. " Oh, my guild is just here for a month or so to get new stuff, and maybe train around here..." Hey, she is getting the hang of talking to him. Not too shabby...

" I see, maybe I could show you around one of these days."

_Yes yes yes! I would love to!!!! _Alexis was elated, but she knew she had to play it cool and not look so desparate, " That would be nice..." She was blushing insanly now. She could not believe her luck. This must obviously be a dream. She would have pinched herself if she wasn't too busy drooling over Alden. As they went deeper into their conversation, Alexis found herself inching closer towards Alden.

3 am in the morning. Little love sick Alexis was finally tired. She let out a small yawn. Alden smiled at her, " Hey, you should get some sleep..." He stood up, escortting her back to her room. Alexis' face was as red as a tomato as he sent her to her doorstep. Giving a small yet heart melting wave, Alden left. As soon as he was out of sight. She jumped around like Rosette would when she had too much sugar in her coffee, which would be everyday. Alexis climbed up to her bed, she could finally sleep...

---

5 hours of sleep. Alexis and the others ate their breakfast at a nearby cafe. While the others looked half-dead, Alexis was smiling broadly as she stuck her fork into her bacon. Even Rosette looked like she was about to fall dead on her plate of pancakes, but sadly this phase won't last long, after Rosette's morning coffeee with numerous amount of suger, she will be back to her normal over-perky self. Obviously being the most alive among the group, Alexis finished her meal first and excused herself from the table to get 'fresh air'. She was hoping that Alden would be at the fountain again. So dashed like a little girl with high amounts of suger in her blood and looked like she was going to die of hyper-activeness, in other words, she ran like Rosette would after a cart full of candy. She sat by the fountain like the last tijme, only she was very much alert this time. An hour has passed, still no sight of Alden. She got up to walk a little around, circulating her blood around her numbed body. After her nice walk she would decide to go back to the fountain to wait ever so patiently for her Knight.

Well, now she had no idea where the rest of the guild was. But she nonchalantly walked around the city by herself, she knew they had to come back to the inn to rest. During her walk, she saw many interesting vends. But the one that got her attention was one owned by a particular blacksmith. She knew that guy, no it wasn't Saura, it was one of her fellow guild members, Amir. She approached him, eager to see what he was selling. "Amir, why aren't you with the others?" He responed with an excuse saying he thought this was a good time to sell his junks. Buying his excuse, Alexis just walked away.

She stopped dead in her path. There he was. Just standing there looking at some items in a vend. _Awww, he looks just so cute! _Alexis eagerly walked towards him. She tapped lightly on his shoulder. He turned around, his face was just infront of hers. " Sorry..." He pulled back, taking a few steps back too. " Would you like a tour around?" Alden offered. "Yes. That would be nice."

---

They met everyday ever since the first time. Each time, they got to know each other better, becoming closer to one another. The night seemed so familiar. The city was sound asleep, they were sitting at the edge of the fountain, everything was so peaceful. She was still drooling over him, just like the first time.

" Heh... remember the first time we met?" Her eyes wandered from his to the water in the fountain.

" How could I forget...your face was redder than anything else I have seen in the whole of Midgard! See! There you go again!" Alexis could feel her blood rush to her face.

He smiled, inching closer towards her. _Oh my gosh oh my gosh..._ Alexis moved back as Alden moved closer. Eventually, she stopped moving and he was just a few centimetres away from her. He stared into her silvery eyes, and smiled.

" Do you believe in love a first sight?" He used such a cheesy line.

Alexis was speechless.

" I do..." Alden leaned in. He landed a gentle but passionate kiss on her lips, automatically she closed her eyes. She could feel his hands wrapping around her waist, pressing her closer towards him. Her heart melted, she felt like she was in heaven. She really wanted to return his kiss, but she was unsure of whether that would be the right thing to do. He lightly tasted her lips. This caused Alexis to have more confidence as she place her arms around his neck. She wanted more. He slowly drew his tongue across her lips. Alexis slightly parted her lips, allowing him to explore in a light licking motion. His arms moved from her waist to her back, gentally rubbing it. She leaned in closer, she was starting to get a little aggressive with him. She playfully tickled the rooth of his mouth with her tongue. Just as she was about to go deeper, the worset thing could have happen, happened. She lost her balance and dragged Alden with her, splashing into the fountain. Drenched, but still very very happy, she laughed as he got up and helped her out of the freezing water.

" Sigh... look at you, you are soaked to the skin!" He chuckled. He sent her back to her room. It was 11pm, the air was freezing and getting drenched with icy water was obviously the worst situation. At her doorstep, he sweetly pecked her on her cheeck before she went in. She open the door silently and crept past the others, reaching for some dry clothes. After she slipped on fresh, dry and warm clothes she climbed up to her bed. She smiled to herself, just lying there, staring at the ceiling. That day was one of the happiest days of her life! She just layed there, daydreaming. She could not wait to see what was install for her the next day...


	6. Chapter 6 New comer

_How many days has it been...? _Alexis wondered as she walked along the crowded streets of Prontera. It had been almost a month since that night by the fountain. She thought it was time to shed some light on her secret relationship, time to let her friends and guildmembers know.

_Will they accept him? Will they hate him? Will they forbid me to see him? Does it matter, they aren't the boss of me... But still...Why the heck am I so nervous?!?!?!? _She slapped her forehead with her palm.She walked towards a rather regular looking house, it had a red door with a small, cute garden infront of it. Three knocks, Alexis waited patiently. The door swung open, he stood there gesturing her to come in.

"Glad you could make it." He gave a smile as Alexis walked into the living room, he followed behind her. "How could I miss a day to be with you?" She turned around, throwing herself into Alden's arms, resting her head on his chest. Embracing her, he softly said, " So when am I going to meet your friends? Shouldn't they have the right to know?" She looked up, she pulled his arm heading towards the door. " How about now? I think they are all back in the inn..." She just wanted to get it over and done with , the quicker the better. She dragged Alden all the way to the Prontera inn, up the creeky stairs, down the corridor and into their room. She pushed the door open holding her breath, trying to remain calm.

They were all there like she expected. Rosette was bouncing on her bed, so was Cady, but not as demented as Rosette. Saura was just lying motionlessly on her bed. The moment Alexis entered the room, they all stopped what they were doing and stared in suprise at the two.

Silence.

Alexis wanted to say something but she just could not find where to begin. She just wanted to dig a hole and hide.

"Well, erm... this is...is...er..." She choked as her eyes darted all over the room. Everything was dead silent, the only sound that she could hear was her heavy breathing and her heart beating fast. She looked at Alden for some help, any kind of help. He raised his eyebrows as she begged him, although normally he was smoothe with everything, he was kind of stuck at this moment. But he knew he had to say something to break the silence. "errr... I'm Alden, I'm...her..." To make things much easier he slipped his hand sheepishly into Alexis' sweaty hand. They all broke into a grin and 'ohhh'ed collectively.Now both Alden's and Alexis' faces were red.

" Well he is cute, and totally _hot_..." That was a really strange statement, especially coming from Rosette. All eyes slowly turned towards her. "What?!?!? I'm just making a point..."

"So no objections?" Alexis got back everyone's attention.

"Objections? No way, why would we have any objections?" Sarura raised her eyebrows, giving her that cheeky grin. She left a whole lot lighter now that her confession session is over.

"Oh, so Alden, this is Saura... Cady... and that _thing_ over there is my sister Rosette..." She pointed as she introduced her friends to Alden, recieving a frightening glare from Rosette.

"Alexis, you haven't introduced him to Tony and the others..." Reminded Cady. They went room to room doing the same introduction. Then at last, the guild leader's room. This was easier than she thought it would be. They pushed the door open after knocking loudly. Ariana was sitting quietly at the desk. Sunlight seeped into the room from the open window, shinning onto her desk. It was covered with a mess of books about various topics, all related to the way of life of a priest. She looked up as her fellow guild members strolled in. Surprised, she looked at Alexis and then back at Alden. Before Ariana could say anything, Alexis began her introduction.

"Ariana, this is Alden...boyfriend..."

"Oooooh, little Alex has found herself a little boyfriend!" Ariana teased as she walked towards them, her eyes peeped out of her half-circular glasses. She stared at the couple, smiling in glee. Alexis rolled her eys at her.

"So, Alden... a Knight I see... interested in joining Chivalrous, our guild?" Ariana offered as she inspected Alden form head to toe. But everyone else, Cady, Saura, Rosette and Alexis, just stared at her in surprise. Join their guild? They never really thought of that. Not that they had any objections, it is just that Ariana never hand out invatations so easily.

"But... but... but... since when you invite someone the first time you meet them?" Rosette could not help herself.

"Well, any friend of yours should be a friend of mine..." She smiled.

"More than friends..." There was a certain cough coming from Cady. Alexis darted a glare at her.

"So, you want to join?" Alden did not mind, he was ok with anything, so he just nodded his head accepting the offer.

The news was quickly spread, obviously by Rosette, that there was a new comer in the guild. They all were surprised that Ariana let him in so easily, after all she was a tough cookie to crack. But soon after, the mystery of Ariana's sudden friendliness towards strangers she just met escaped the minds of the guild. They all gathered around Alden, trying to get to know him better. This will be the people he will be spending most of the rest of his life with, so naturally, Alden tried his best to start off on the right foot with everyone. In hope no friendship would ever turn sour.


	7. Chapter 7 See you later, Alligator

Chapter 7- See you later, Alligator

The blades of her katar swished with much better control than before. It landed with great impact on the green, scaley creature. This caused it to be hopping mad. It whipped around with full force and swingged its mighty claws at the young assassin.

_Lucky dodge_

Her sister and friends watched at a side, in case if she needed any help they would be ready for action. But of course, there would always be a priest by her side, healing her wounds, blessing her, increasing her agility and such. They all knew she was in good hands and that there was no way that alligator could do much damage to her.

The final swing.

_Thud. _

It fell motionless on the fresh, green grass of a field off Comodo.She did her 'triumph dance' which made her look so ridiculous yet so cute.

"I'm Rosette! The Alligator slayer!" She stood there with her heroic pose which simply looked beyond silly.

"Alligator slayer... You know Steve Irwin won't be too happy about this..." Cady said it with absolute no emotion at all.

"Steve Irwin? Does it matter? The dude's dead!" Saura nonchalantly said.

"It matters much!" Cady gave Saura a sour look before the group ventured to find another unlucky alligator to train on. She refused to hit any alligator even if it means she had to sit there watching the others train. For some reason she had a... _soft _side for scaley creatures, namely alligators.

Alexis took aim. She drew her arrow back, waiting for the right time.

_Swoosh_

The arrow moved so fast through the air, no one knew she was attacking an alligator. It turned around, seeing Alexis in the distant it hastily ran towards her in attack. But after it took a few steps, another arrow sliced through its flesh, it moaned in great pain. Before it could even touch the mighty hunter, it was defeated. It fell dead at her feet.

" I don't suppose your sister needs our help right?" Alden asked as he stood in front of Alexis, in between her and the dead alligator.

" Rosette? Just look at her. She can manage herself..." The two peered over Alexis' shoulder. Rosette was jumping here and there, swinging her katar like the demented psycho she is. And with Tony by her side healing every wound she got with great concern, they looked so comical. Saura and Cady were just sitting around watching Rosette. Cady was leaning her back against Saura's shoulder. Her face showed much disgust as the alligator let out a soft moan, it was dead.

Alden observed Tony. For some reason he noticed Tony was constantly looking at Rosette with not much expression on his face. Either he was fascinated at how Rosette managed to stay this way every single day, or her had another hidden emotion dwelling in him

From his emotionless face, a soft smile drew across it as Rosette turned to look at him and then looked at Alexis and Alden. They walked towards them, Rosette continued to stare at them. For once she was actually standing still, completely calm and sane. But that wonderful moment of silence ended as suddenly as it began. Rosette was bouncing around again, generating noise.

She dashed off by herself, without uttering another word to the others, she attacked anything that was in sight. Only Tony followed her around, supporting her, Alexis and Alden just gave up and sat down beside Cady and Saura. They knew that it was no use trying to catch up with Rosette.

"Now what?" Cady said to break the silence.

"This sucks..." Saura pessimistically sighed.

They all turned to look at Saura.

"Do you always _have_ to be so cynical?" Cady snapped at her.

"Does it matter?" Saura rolled her eyes.

"Ok... I will go check on Rosette..." Alexis got up followed by Alden, avoiding any conflict, they left the two behind to continue their squabble.

Tony was running around like a mad chicken trying to chase a hawk that stole its morning worm. "Does it make you wonder why Tony is so attached to Rosette?" Alden raised the question to Alexis.

It took a while for Alexis to respond. She never wondered, she never gave it much thought. She did not

know what to say, it made her think. Alexis opened her mouth to say something but no words came out of it. She looked at Alden, then back at Rosette and Tony.

"Why don't you ask him?" She really was curious now. She tried to think of when Tony turned up in their lives. But as far as she can remember, he was always there, all the way back to their early childhood. She had no recollection when Tony was not there. Even as young toddlers, they were inseparable, they went everywhere together, did everything together, they basically grew up together.

_How did we meet? When did we meet? Why are we so close? Why can't I remember anything? And I'm suppose to be the wise one in the group! _Alexis really wanted to know badly. She did not want to think anymore, it made her head hurt. But the more she refused to remember, the more she wanted to know. The thought of her not knowing so much of Tony so suddenly because of one question, made her eye twitch. She could not believe that the guy who can put up with Rosette's madness, the guy who she thought she knew inside-out, the guy who she grew up with, suddenly she knew nothing of him.

Alden and Alexis just stood there, in sheer wonder, staring at Tony, who was chasing Rosette round and round. She approached them, still thinking. Rosette noticed their presence, and once again she stopped to look at Alden for a while. This gave her the chance to ask Tony about his mysterious past.

"Tony, I know this is so random, but how the heck did we meet?" Alexis was desparate for an answer.

"Well, erm..." He paused for a while, a long while. He was stuck too. "...I think, we just started playing with each other one day. Then we just became really close after that..."

"Wait, I thought I fell one fine day while running after the candy cart and you just happened to be there to help me up. Then Alexis thought you pushed me and told you off. Or something like that..." Rosette turned to look at Tony, disagreeing with his version of the story.

But Alexis did not care which was right, she just wanted to ease her desparate state of curiousity, so she just bought them both.

"Where's Cady and Saura?" Rosette asked.

They all whipped around to look at the two. It looked like they were on better terms. They joined the rest of the group, hand in hand, all smiles. Alden once again noticed Tony's emotionless stares at Rosette. Was he the only person who notices this? Or are the others just used to it? It still did not change the fact that Tony was one unsual guy.


	8. Chapter 8 Rejection

Chapter 8-Rejection

I was reading a book by the little oil lamp on the desk in my room in the guild's castle. The ring of light from the flames danced from side to side, my eyes glided across the page. Everyone else was out, including Alden. They had taken the training overtime, and I have grown lazier and refused to go on these trips to various areas to train most of the time. This was one of those days, those lazy days where I would let myself stay in the room the whole day, except during meal times, doing absolute pointless things.

I was half way through my book when I heard heavy footsteps along the corridor outside my room. Startled, I looked at my door waiting for a knock. But instead, my door just swinged wide open. A girl wearing a rather cute skirt and alchemist outfit stood there, crying. Cady collapsed onto my bed and buried her face into my pillow, crying her ears out. I slammed my book shut and sat beside her.

"Cady, what happened?" I tried the standard question.

"...She...she... dumped me..." She sobbed in her grief. "I thought everything worked out fine...I didn't know that she was... dissapointed...with me" Although Cady was looking up, her eyes did not dare to meet mine.

Trying to at least give her some comfort, I wrapped my arms around her. She just carried on sobbing on my drenched shoulders. I could not believe it too. _Why would they break up? They were so perfect... _I just could not understand.

"Cady, what exactlly happened?" Hoping i could give her some advice to make her feel better

" We went training at the alligator place again... I thought we were on good terms... Then when Rosette went after another alligator, Alden and Tony follewed, leaving me and her alone... She turned to look at me. we stared into each other's eyes, it was so romantic... But... but when she lean towards me... I thought she was going to kiss me... so I closed my eyes and lean closer to her... how wrong I was... I did get my kiss... She just gentally pecked me... Then she softly whispered into my ear... _'Cady, I know you have strong feelings for me, I had them too for you, had... But I think that this would not work out. You care so much about me. But I don't want to take advantage of you. Thank you for all the good times we had together, but I think it's time to go our separate ways, see new people, see new things. I'm sorry, this is the end of our relationship...' _I could not believe what she said to me... I thought we were so perfect together, it just felt so right with her. I just don't understand why she would do this to me! I thought she cared and loved me! I guess I was just living a lie, a huge lie all this while!"

I could not believe it too, but it was not impossible for things like this to happen, its just the way life goes, its just like a slap in the face sometimes.

" Do you want me to go talk to her?" I offered my help.

"No. It doesn't matter."

She walked out of the room, leaving me alone, onlooking as she closed the door, " I... need to wash my face..."

I wanted to get up to follow her, but I thought it would be best if I did not. Then again I thought she would need someone by her side. As I got off the bed, once again my door just swinged open without any warning knock.

This time it was Alden, covered in pesperation. He took a deep breath, " Alexis, where's Cady? She was so upset just now she left without telling us so I followed her. Who knew she could run so fast... Is she alright?"

I was just as concerned about her as he was, just then I remembered about the other three. " What about Rosette, Tony and Saura? Where are they?"

"Rosette and Tony went to talk to Saura."

" I will go talk to Cady." I brushed by Alden and made my way to the washroom.

For some reason the corridor to the washroom seemed to be longer than usual, it seemed like forever to get there. Finally I have reached the door, a gentle knock and a light push to let myself in. I did not wait for Cady to acknowledge my presence, I stood beside her as she splashed a great amount of water onto her melancholic face.

" Look, Cady... Don't dwell too much on her. She is not worth you, there are many more pebbles on the beach, fished in the sea, blah blah blah... But you get my point right? So what if she is not the one? There is someone out there for you."

She turned to look at me, after a long pause, she forced a weak smile and said, " Out there... in here..."

In here? I could not think of a better response so I just took it as all a joke and smiled back at her. I hugged her and she accepted. She whispered softly into my ear, " Thanks... for always being there for me..."

" That's why I'm here."


End file.
